Last year, leaders of the Seven Capes Bird Alliance, a coastal branch of the Audubon Society, expressed interest in becoming part of the Oregon Bird City network.

That fledgling group is part of the international Bird City organization, which brings people together to raise awareness of issues that threaten birds and other wildlife and work on solutions.

Jim Welch, a Seven Capes board member, helped complete the application, highlighting the community’s past efforts and future goals.

“We want to convert our streetlights to dark sky standards in Yachats,” said Welch. “This is something that’s very helpful to birds in migration. A lot of birds migrate at night and become disoriented from lights.”

Yachats adopted dark-sky standards in 2022, which restrict the brightness of outdoor “trespass” lighting on homes and require that it be shielded from neighbors and directed downward.

Welch said streetlights have so far been exempt from existing dark sky rules.

Other scheduled projects include adding window treatments to city buildings to prevent bird strikes and capping open pipes, which can trap birds.

Welch said Oregon State Parks is working with the group to cover 150 open pipes in its coastal facilities.

Welch hopes the Bird City designation will fuel even more action, noting that simply forming a steering committee has already spurred new energy.

Yachats is the first city on the entire Pacific Coast to earn the designation, and so far only city in Oregon listed on the Bird City Network website.

A ceremony on Sunday will officially deem Yachats a Bird City. It will be followed by the first talk of a year-long speaker series, on Oregon coast Wildlife Refuges.

The event is at 1:30 p.m. at the Yachats Lions Club, which sponsors the program.

Karen Richards is a reporter with KLCC.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/28/yachats-hopes-to-further-its-environmental-goals-with-new-bird-city-designiation/